Tuesda November 22nd 2016|

 

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5

Illinois Tech alumni win awards, celebrate success

l-inoopa Sundararajan
EDiTORriNrCHiEF

Three Illinois Tech alumni who
currently work for the 1111 Group , Gruzen
Samton in New York City have been pushlng
boundanes and wlnnlng deslgn competitions
across the country Maria del Mar Granados
Santlago, “Mar Granados,” graduated With her
Bachelor of Architecture degree in 2000 and
ls now a Senior Architect at the 1111 Group
Gabriel Espinoza also graduated With a degree
in architecture in 201s and Meriem Sakrouhl,
also an architecture graduate, completed her
Bachelor’s degree in 2015

wlthln months, Espinoza and
Sakrouhi brought in awards for their
company at dlfferent deslgn competltlons
in the country, Cranados supervised both
projects Espinoza ls a Project Architect who
worked on the AARP 2015 Memphis Deslgn
Competltlon where the alm was to “rethlnk
how an existing home can live and grow With
a famlly as the famlly evolves in life” The
team won first place at the competltlon wlth
their “lntereActive lelng” deslgn, respondlng
to the requirements set by the challenge “to
generate universal deslgn solutions and build
an attractive, adaptable and affordable home
of the future that speaks to and showcases
llvablllty, by promotlng both aestheticallyr
and functionallyeappealing deslgns for better
llvlng” Asked what was most special to hlm
about wlnnlng this award and worklng on
this project overall, Espinoza says, “I had the

amazlng opportunlty to collaborate wlth a
nonprofit organlzatlon to brlng the deslgn
to llfe, and that in ltself posed new challenges
that I wouldn‘t have been able to overcome
wlthout the necessary background that llT
provlded me wlth For the first time 1 had to
manage and deslgn a projectwhich had a lot of
stakeholders, and that experience ls lnvaluable,
and I feel very proud ofwhatwe accomplished”
More lnformatlon about the teams wlnnlng
deslgn can be found at homemattersamerica
com/design/ZU15challengdwinners/

Sakrouhi, a lunlor Architect at the
firm, worked on the Habitat for Humanity
Challenge 2015 The goal was “to create an
affordable and flexible home that engages
outdoor llvlng and adjusts to the homeowners
needs, whlle mltlgatlng the humid Florida
Climate” The challenge was to deslgn an
affordable Airbedroom, Zebathroom home in
a maximum of 1300 square feet and wlth a
budget of $150,000 The team won second
place Sakrouhi says, “The greatest takeaway
from the Habitat for Humanity deslgn
competltlon was to be able to deslgn wlth a
very specific purpose, whlch ls to make a great
house for everyone, whatever the needs of that
person can be in the future Thls prlnclple of
universal deslgn ls somethlng that ls taught
at the College of Architecture at IIT” More
lnformatlon on the competltlon wlnners can
be found at aectrendscom/designechallengee
wlnners

Granados, who supervlsed both
projects says of her involvement in the
projects, “My role was to llsten to thelr ldeas

and push them to answer the questions
that were presented, to focus thelr thlnklng
towards the problems and challenges, and to
gve advice on aspects of their own designs”
She adds, “In both projects I wanted them to
explore how the house would react through
dlfferent stages in llfe, and dlfferent users Our
motto was everyone deserves affordable and
quality llvlng, and this needs to be flexible and
engaglng and lt needs to lmprove life”
Turmng her focus to architecture
students, Cranados says, “there ls no real
barrier between student and office work when
lt comes to the way we analyze architecture
there ls always room for innovation and
prlnclples Any barriers there are, we are
creatlng ourselves We need to keep pushlng
for critical thlnklng, for wonder, and need
to keep lncludlng the pnnclples of quality
lnto architecture Many tlmes architecture ls
a response to a problem or a commentary ln
the world, lt ls up to us as architects to keep
pushlng this conversation forward” Addlng
to that, Espinoza said that one of the most
lmportant thlngs he hopes students take
away from this article ls, ‘When we enter
our respectlve professlons, our fresh and
new perspectlye ls an lncredlble asset to any
company, lt should be somethlng that outgolng
students are proud of A perspectlvel did not
have when graduatlng, lt was somewhat the
opposlte, l thoughtl couldn‘t brlng much to
the table because I didn‘t have the experience”
In her time at Illinois Tech, Sakrouhi learned
that whlle critical thlnklng ls an extremely
lmportant sklll she learned from the College

Advenlse ln

TechNews

of Architecture, her lPROs taught her that,
“lt ls as lmportant to sell your ldeas, to make
sure people can understand your stories,”
addlng, “learning how to pltch ideas, deslgns
or yourselfewhen lntervlewlng for a jobris
crucial”

Finally, TechNeWs asked Granados,
Espinoza and Sakrouhi lf they had any words
of advlce for current students at the unlyerslty
Granados says, “My advice to students at IIT
rlght now ls to remember that thls ls a tlme for
exploration HT is one ofthe best architecture
schools in the world You are lucky enough
to be lnhabltlng hlstory by occupylng Mles’
Crown Hall, and fortunate to have some of the
most ylslonary architects as your teachers, take
advantage of this Learn from their Wisdom
and always wonder, keep questlonlng and
always remember that the future ls not wrltten
yet, and that you part of that conversatlon”
Espinoza adds, “the “real“ World needs future
generatlons to be proactlve and lnnovatlye so
We can break the mold of What is standard,
whlch ls what our competltlon prolects are
trylng to accompllsh, and us an amazlng thlng
to be part of” Sakrouhi, who moved to the
Us as a transfer student ln 2013 ended wlth,
“Before movlng to the Us one ofmy goalswas
to be able to Watch American movies with no
subtitles Thls was only three years ago and
what I am trylng to say wlth thls ls that you
can do anythlng you want, and through belng
around incredible teachers,students and guest
speakers, llT ls openlng many doors for you,
all you have to do is decide which ones to use”

 

Photo wmtexy of Mariam Sakmuhl

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